Mechanism for wrapping granular materials



Sept. 28, 1937. F. GROVER MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING GRANUIJAR MATERIALSFiled Sept. 24, 1936 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING GRANULARMATERI Filed Sept. 24, 1936 ALIS 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 28, 1937. F,GROVER 2,094,402

MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING GRANULAR MATERIALS Filed Sept. 24, 1936 '7Sheets-Sheet 3 Sept. 28, 1937. F. GROVER MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING GRANULARMATERIALS Filed Sept. 24, 1936 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Sept. 28, 1937. F.GROVER 2,094,402

MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING GRANULAR MATERIALS Filed Sept. 24, 1956 1Sheets-Sheet 5 F. GROVER se t. 28, 1937.

. MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING GRANULAR MATERIALS Filed Se t. 24, 1936 7Sheets-Sheet Sept 28, 1937. GROVER 2,094,402

MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING GRANULAR MATERIALS Filed Sept. 24, 1955 7Sheets-Sheet 7 Patented Sept. 28, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEMECHANISM FOR WRAPPING GRANULAR MATERIALS Frederick Grover, Leeds,England, assignor to The Forgrove Machinery Company Limited,

Leeds, England 3 Claims.

This invention relates to mechanism for wrapping powder and othergranular material (hereinafter referred to, for convenience, as granularmaterial) in square or rectangular packets using paper or like wrappingmaterial.

The object of the present invention is to provide mechanism fordelivering measured quantities of the material, compressing the materialso fed and wrapping it in packets.

By the term compressing"-used herein we do not means necessarilycompressing the granular material so as to consolidate it but includelightly compressing the material into a loose mass.

According to this invention the mechanism 5 comprises, in combination,apparatus for feeding measured quantities of the granular material, a

trough adapted to receive said measured quantities of the material, aplunger adapted to prevent the material falling down said trough, meansfor raising and lowering said trough and plunger independently of eachother, a folding box below said trough, means for feeding a wrapper oversaid box so that when the trough descends it pushes the wrapper downinto the folding box and thereby turns up and tucks in the wrapper sidesto form a cellule with a base and upstanding sides and also moves clearof said plunger to allow the material to fall down said trough and intothe cellule, means movable beneath said folding box for receiving thecellule and the material contained therein, means for folding over partsof the upstanding sides of the cellule which project above the material,one on top of the other to form overlapping parts and means for sealing35 the overlapping parts.

The arrangement is such that when the material is fed into said troughthe plunger extends downwardly into the lower part of the trough whichit fills completely so that it prevents the 40 material from fallingdown into the bottom of the trough. The trough first descends while theplunger remains stationary and when the trough has moved far enough toform the wrapper into a container the lower part of the trough moves 45clear of the plunger so that the material now falls into the lower partof the trough and on to the base of the wrapper. When all the materialhas dropped, the plunger will descend and according to the quantity ofmaterial fed will 50 compress it in varying degrees of hardness.

The movable means for receiving the cellule and material to be packedtherein may consist of a series of rectangular frames mounted on a chainadapted to be moved step by step so as to 55 bring the framessuccessively beneath the folding box. Each frame may be provided with adischarge plate having an operating plunger by which the finished packetcan be ejected from the frame at the discharge position.

A form of construction of the wrapping mecha- 5 nism according to thisinvention is shown, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings, inwhich:-

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the combined feeding and wrappingmechanisms. 10

Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1 on theline 2-2 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 illustrates the feeding mechanism for the granular material to bewrapped, the hopper for receiving the material and the cylinder for feeding measured quantities of the material to the wrapping mechanism beingshown respectively wholly and partly in section and the parts beingshown in the first position of the feeding operation in which thecylinder coincides with the outlet of the hopper ready to receive thecharge of granular material from the hopper.

Fig, 4 is a similar view of the same apparatus shown in Fig. 1 butshowing the apparatus in the position in which the cylinder has beenmoved into the discharge position and in which the con- .tents of thecylinder have been wholly ejected into the wrapping mechanism; this viewalso showing part of the wrapping mechanism in the first position,namely, the position in which the granular material and the wrapper havebeen moved into positions ready for the commencement of the wrappingoperation proper.

Fig. 5 is a view of the parts of the wrapping apparatus shown in Fig. 4in the second position of the wrapping operation in which the trough hasbeen moved down to carry the paper through the folding box and todeposit the granular material in the lower end of the trough.

Fig. 6 is a similar view of the same mechanism shown in Fig. 5 butshowing the apparatus in the third position of the wrapping operation inwhich the trough has been retracted to allow the granular material tofall down into the cellule, while the plunger has been depressed tocause the granular material to be packed into the cellule.

Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation of the folding box drawn to an enlargedscale, the section being taken on the line 'l'l in Fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the folding box.

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9-9 in Fig. 8.

Figs. 10 to 14 illustrate the wrapper in different stages of the foldingoperation.

Fig. 15 is a plan of an alternative form of the folding box.

Fig. 16 is a section on the line i$li inl'ig. 15.

Fig. 17 is a side elevation.

Figs. .18 and 19 are sections on the lines 18-]! and |9--l9 respectivelyin Fig. 17.

Figs. 20-22 illustrate the various steps in the wrapper foldingoperation with the alternative form of folding box.

The mechanism shown in the accompanying drawings comprises a feed hoppera for the material to be wrapped and a feeding cylinder b. The cylinderb is provided with trunnions b by which it is rockably mounted inhearings in the machines (not shown). One of the trunnions is providedwith an arm I: which is operably connected by a link b to an operatinglever b pivotally mounted on a fixed shaft 0 and adapted to be actuatedby a cam (not shown) mounted on one of the main driving shafts d of themachine whereby the cylinder is rocked through an angle of about 60 fromits filling position shown in Fig. 3, in which it is in alignment withthe outlet :1 in the hopper, to its discharge position shown in Figs. 1and 4, in which it is located above an inclined chute e and vice versa.The cylinder contains a plunger 1 with a stem I having a. lateralprojection F engaging in the slotted arm g of a bell crank lever 11pivoted on the shaft h and having its other arm 9 operatively connectedby means of the link a to a slotted lever g which is also mounted on theshaft 0 and is operated by a cam (not shown) on the driving shaft 11.

This mechanism permits a measured quantity of the granular material tobe drawn into the cylinder b when this is coincident with the outlet inthe hopper and to be fed into the chute e.

The chute e constitutes the upper part of a. trough e slidably mountedon guide rods a so that it can be reciprocated vertically, said troughbeing adapted to receive a vertical plunger i which is guided by thetrough itself. The plunger and trough are connected by linlm e and 1'respectively to levers e and i pivoted at e and i and adapted to beactuated by cams mount ed on one of the main shafts j of the machine.

Means is provided for feeding paper from a reel is (Fig. 2) into aposition between the lower end of the trough when this is in the raisedposition shown in Fig. l and for severing a piece of paper from the reelto form the wrapper, which feeding mechanism may be of any suitable orusual form.

The paper is fed on to the top of a folding box which may be of the formshown in Figs. 7 to 9. This folding box is formed with two spaced sidemembers 1, 1 between which the trough is adapted to pass and extendingbetween these side members are two cross members P, I having their upperedges or surfaces obliquely inclined to the path of the trough andsituated below the tops of the two spaced side members. with this boxwhen the wrapper is forced. by the descent of the trough, into the box,the wrapper m is first folded into the channel form shown in Fig. 10 byturning two of its edges marked 111. m so that the wrapper fits againstthe lower end and two opposite sides of the trough and leaves twooppositely extending channel parts which project laterally from theremaining sides of the trough. As the trough conidnuis to descend thistrough co-operates with the cm members Z, l to intuck the oppositelyextend ing channel parts as shown in Fig. 11 and fold them up to formthe cellule shown in Hg. 12.

This operation of forming the wrapper into a cellule is eifected bymoving the trough down from the position-shown in Fig. 1 to the positionshown in Fig. 5, and in this movement the trough moves downwardlyrelatively to the plunger so that the opening e at the base of thechute, which in the position shown in Fig. l is closed by the plunger 1,is opened to allow the granular material to descend through the troughinto the wrapper cellule formed as hereinbefore described.

The trough is then slightly raised from the position shown in Fig. 5 tothe position shown in Fig. 6 so that the granular material cancompletely fill the base of the cellule and the plungor is deprcsed tomove the cellule into a rectangular frame 1L arranged to receive it andsaid plunger also acts to press the material down into the cellule andcompress it to the desired extent.

The trough and plunger are now raised together and two side folders oand 0 act to turn over, on to the top of the compressed powder, two ofthe upstanding side portions of the wrapper cellule, so as to form thewrapper into the shape shown in 13. A back folder 0 is then moved tofold one of the remaining upstanding edges over on to the top of thefolded side portions. The side folders o and o are each operated by ashaft 0 of which only one is shown in the which shaft is rocked aboutits axis to impart the necessary lateral movement to the folders bysuitable mechanism (not shown) mounted on the shaft d. The back folder 0is operated by a bell crank lever 0 which is also actuated by a cam (notshown) mounted on the shaft 41,

The rectangular frame 12 is carried by an endless chain indicated at 1:having a step by step motion under the action of a ratchet n and pawl 11carried on a lever 11 which is actuated by an operating lever 11? rockedby a cam (not shown) on the shaft 9. After the third upstanding side ofthe wrapper has been folded by means of the back folder 0' on to the topof the package the chain moves forward so that the fourth upstandingside on the top of the package is folded over the previously foldedsides by moving the package underneath the box q. Where waxed paper isused for the wrapping material, the box q is heated to provide a heatedsurface under which the packet passes so that the wax of the paper ismelted.

Theframeis then carriedby thechainto a number of stations for subsequentoperations to be performed. At the first station a cold plate 1' isprovided adapted to be pressed down on to thepackageso'astosealthetopfoldsasthe wax cools. At the second station a labellingdevice of any suitable or usual form is provided and a plate 3 isarranged to press a transversely fed and summed label on to the top ofthe packet. At the last station a pressure plate t is provided toflatten the label well down on the packet. nae chain then can-la theframe into the discharge position and the packets are then ejected fromthe rectangular frame by a discharge plunger I. mounted in the base ofthe rectangular frame and adapted to be actuated by suitable mechanism(not shown) to eject the packet on to a trough o.

The cold plate 1- and the pressure plates 3 and t are carried by asingle arm 10 pivotally mounted atio onthemachineand connectedbyalinkw'cammotsbown) ontheshafti.

It will be understood that the chain n will carry a number of therectangular frames n which are so arranged that when one of the framesis underneath the folding box other frames will be located concurrentlyat the first, second and third stations so that the packages and theframes at said stations can be acted upon simultaneously by the variousdevices carried on the arm w.

A retractable stop n carried on an arm n which is adapted to bereciprocated by suitable mechanism n operated by the link n from an armn which is actuated by a cam (not shown) on the shaft d in order toprevent premature displacement of the rectangular frame from the foldingposition.

It will be understood that the shafts d, 7' and p will be suitablyinterconnected by chain or other gearing which will ensure that theseshafts are driven in timed relationship to each other.

Alternatively, instead of using a folding box of the form described andillustrated in Figs. 1-9, the folding box may be of the form shown inFigs. 15-19 and comprise a top part :1: having a central opening x andslots x x x .1: extending diagonally outward from each corner of saidcentral opening, and a box-like part 1: having side members x", :c, 1: xforming a continuation of the sides of the central opening 1: two of theopposed side members 0:", x being plain and the others, :0, ar beingeach formed with guiding and folding slots at, 3: extending obliquelyacross the side members. With this folding box, the wrapper is firstforced by the trough into the top part a: in order to fold in the foursides of the wrapper and form four outwardly projecting ears, one ateach corner of the package as shown in Fig. 20, and, on continuedmovement, the sides of the box-like part fold the ears in each pairinwardly toward each other and on to one of the four sides of thepackage with one of the ears in each pair overlapping the other ear, asshown in Fig. 21, so as to form the cellule hereinbefore referred to,after which the upstanding sides are folded over as shown in Fig. 22.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. Mechanism for wrapping granular material comprising, in combination,a non-tilting chute to receive the granular material, a hollow troughforming a lower part of the chute, a plunger fitting closely in thehollow trough whereby it acts to prevent the granular material fromfalling out of the chute and into the trough, means for feeding awrapper beneath the hollow trough,

' means for lowering and raising said trough so as to cause it to pushthe wrapper down and also to move the trough clear of the plunger inorder to allow the granular material to fall out of the chute throughthe trough and on to the wrapping material, and a folding box in thepath of. movement of the trough, said box having four fixed sides forupturning four sides of the wrapping material on to the sides of thetrough to form a cellule, as it is moved through the folding box.

2. Mechanism for wrapping granular material comprising, in combination,a non-tilting chute to receive the granular material, a hollow troughforming a lower part of the chute, a plunger fitting closely in thehollow trough whereby it acts to prevent the granular material fromfalling out of the chute and into the trough, means for feeding awrapper beneath the hollow trough, means for lowering and raising saidtrough so as to cause it to push the wrapper down and also to move thetrough clear of the plunger in order to allow the granular material tofall out of the chute, through the trough and on to the wrappingmaterial, a folding box in the path of movement of the trough, said boxhaving four fixed sides for upturning four sides of the wrappingmaterial on to the sides of the trough to form a cellule as it is movedthrough the said box and means for raising and lowering said plunger tocause it to compress the granular material in the cellule.

3. Mechanism for wrapping granular material comprising, in combination,a non-tilting chute to receive the granular material, a hollow troughforming a lower part of the chute, a plunger fitting closely in thehollow trough whereby it acts to prevent the granular material fromfalling out of the chute and into the trough, means for feeding awrapper beneath the hollow trough, means for lowering and raising saidtrough so as to cause it to push the wrapper down and also to move thetrough clear of the plunger in order to allow the granular material tofall out of v the chute, through the trough and on to the wrappingmaterial, a folding box in the path of movement of the trough, said boxhaving four fixed sides for upturning four sides of the wrappingmaterial on to the sides of the trough to form a cellule as it is movedthrough the said box, a rectangular frame below said folding box toreceive the cellule, and means for raising and lowering said plunger tocause it to compress the granular material in the rectangular frame.

FREDERICK GROVER.

